Finding righteous currents in turbulent times

Archive for the tag “Muslim Brotherhood”

The VICE Podcast Show is a weekly discussion that delves inside the minds of some of the most interesting, creative, and bizarre people within the VICE universe. This week, Reihan Salam speaks with Michael Wahid Hanna, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and leading expert on affairs in Egypt and the Middle East. Following the ousting of Morsi, Hanna traces the history and mission of Egypt’s key players in an attempt to shed some light on the new wave of violence and bloodshed erupting in the streets of Egypt.

The Gaza Strip’s ruling authority Hamas has accused rival West Bank Palestinian movement Fatah of fabricating news meant to demonize it and incite the Egyptian public against it. Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, is still reeling from the ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a key political ally in the region.

Egypt’s deposed President Mohamed Morsi has been accused of links to Hamas militants and plotting attacks on jails during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, and is charged with espionage, arson and murder. According to a judicial order, he is to be questioned for an initial 15-day period. Morsi has already been detained for several weeks, but until now he had not been formally charged.

On June 30, exactly one year after Egyptians voted for Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi to become their first-ever democratically elected president, millions of protesters filled central Cairo and town squares across Egypt demanding his dismissal. The Defense Minister, General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, promptly issued Morsi with a 48-hour deadline to heed the protesters’ demands or face military intervention.

Was this another Egyptian revolution, a military coup or—as some feared—the beginning of a civil war? With the clock to the army’s deadline ticking down and the whole country poised to see what would happen next, VICE went to Cairo to find out.

The family of Egypt’s ousted president has lashed out at the military, accusing the generals of kidnapping Mohammed Morsi, who has been detained incommunicado in an unknown location for nearly three weeks.The statement by Morsi’s family at a Cairo press conference underlined the unknown fate of Egypt’s first freely elected president. Morsi has not been seen and has had no known contact with lawyers, family or supporters since the military ousted him in a coup on July 3.

“The mainstream media is too afraid of reporting what’s really happening in the Islamic world,” says Brooke Goldstein, director of the Lawfare Project, as she exposes the many attacks against Christians issued by members of the Muslim Brotherhood over the recent ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. Goldstein appeared on Fox News’ “America Live,” hosted by Martha MacCallum.

The Obama Administration has called upon the Egyptian army to release deposed President Mohammed Morsi amid ongoing protests on the first Friday of Ramadan. Obama’s minions keep saying the US is officially neutral in the conflict, but somehow, they’re always carrying water for the losing side — the thuggish Muslim Brotherhood and power-grabbing despot Morsi.

The festering discontent in Egypt following the Arab Spring shows the country might not be ready for full-throttled democracy. Under the circumstances, the best option for governance might be a “benign” military rule, particularly if it prevents terrorists or totalitarian-minded groups like the Muslim Brotherhood from seizing power, says pundit Dick Morris.

Several hundred supporters of Egypt’s deposed president Mohammed Morsi marched to the presidential palace, where they engaged in a public conversation with an army cordon and requested they defend the legitimacy of their former leader. The protesters carried empty coffins.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is reportedly using guerrilla social media tactics to promote their Islamist agenda in the crisis-struck state. The Brotherhood, who back ousted former president Mohammed Morsi, controversially posted old pictures of children dying in Syria on their Facebook page, to imply these events were currently taking place in Egypt.